tic-tic-toc goes the heart
by Httyd4eva
Summary: Clockwork [by Philip Pullman] AU/Crossover (since it is not a category listed). Nico, the bartender's son, listens as Octavian, the local story teller, reveals his latest story. It's all fun and games at first, until it comes true… Nicercy full sum inside. (feeling a bit bad for antagonist!Luke)


**Full Sum:**

**Nico, the bartender's son, sits down as he listens to a tale, a tale of wonder, amazement and horror, told by their local story-teller, Octavian. Prince Perseus was born dead to his parents after several years of trying. So, heartbroken, King Poseidon traveled to the Clockwork master, Chaos, who told him of a remedy so unorthodox that it shook the room of listeners. and so the tale of the prince went, went and went until… it came true. right there in their pub… Nicercy**

**P.s. forgive me, I read this story in class in 2013 roughly May-ish, so things may differ/be lost, but I remember the basic gist of it all, though some are on purpose like Percy's ability to talk and his and Chaos's swap of arrivals.**

**.**

Nico sat at a table watching the others in the pub walk to and fro.

Nico was a fifteen year old boy, son of the pub owner, Hades, and brother to Hazel and Bianca, the latter being deceased as of two years ago.

His younger sister, Hazel, and her best friend, whom she had a crush on and vice-versa, Frank, came to join him at his table.

"So, did you hear?" said Hazel, "Tomorrow Luke graduates, and we can see his design on the bell tower!" her tone indicated she was excited.

"It's going to be the biggest event of the year!" squealed Frank.

Sometimes Nico found it hard to remember that he and Frank were the same age.

Their other friends Reyna, daughter of the head of the armies, Annabeth, niece of the King's wife, Sally, Leo, son of the town's head mechanic, Piper, daughter of the Ladies at the palace, and Jason, son of one of the Lords at the palace, joined them at the table.

"I hear it's going to be _incredible_!" squealed Leo jumping up and down.

"I know, right!" squealed Annabeth, equally excited.

Seriously, those two could fight about _anything,_ yet as soon as mechanics or architecture came onto the board they tended to get a little… scary, for lack of a better word.

"But that's not all," Reyna leaned in, "I hear Octavian's in with a new story."

The friends all gasped.

Octavian, their local story-teller, was known for his incredible stories on… everything.

"No way!" gasped Nico.

"Yes way," confirmed Reyna, "I heard it from mum, who heard it from dad, who heard it from Octavian, who heard it from-"

"Wait," said Frank, confused, "_Octavian_ heard it from someone?"

Reyna nodded, "He figured he'd forget, so he told Rachel who reminded him."

The others nodded, that seemed plausible.

"I wonder when he'll be here…" said Hazel.

As if on cue the doors opened, and in walked Octavian.

The members of the pub cheered.

One, however, did not…

.

Luke Castellan, son of the royal messenger, Hermes, and apprentice to the clock-master, Chiron was having a rather foul night.

Tomorrow he 'supposedly' graduated from his apprenticeship. He was to take over the reigns from Chiron, and reveal his masterpiece like those before him. Only one problem. He didn't have a masterpiece.

He sighed, in hindsight, it probably _wasn't_ the best idea to have told Chiron it was going well, and that it would blow minds, that it would _shock_ them.

He let out a humorless laugh, oh they'd _definitely_ be shocked.

It wasn't that he was lazy, or arrogant about it, quite the opposite, really. It was that he was completely and utterly stumped.

Throughout the centuries, the clockwork apprentices had created their little clockwork figures for the great clock that stood proudly in the town centre, and looking at all those magnificent clockwork figures depressed Luke. A lot.

Sighing, he turned back to his drink when the door opened and in walked the local story-teller, Octavian.

"Ahhh, Octavian," said Hades, "Here with a new story to tell?"

Octavian chuckled, "Oh, you know me far too well, Hades old chum."

Octavian sat himself down on a chair.

"Gather round!" called a man who Nico vaguely recognized as Malcolm, Annabeth's older half-brother.

"Alright," began Octavian, after taking a large swig of the drink beside him, "Now, you all know of what happened all those years ago at the palace, don't you?"

Only some nodded, it was something they preferred not to tell their children.

"Well, I'm here to tell you what _really_ happened…"

.

_It was long ago, one winter's eve, that Queen Sally, the most fair maiden in the land, gave birth to a baby boy._

_Now, she and King Poseidon had been trying for five years to have a child. Going on pilgrimages, and going to special sermons etc. and it had gotten to a point that Queen Sally had asked her beloved to find another, more suitable queen for the throne, which naturally ended in a lot of tears seeing as Poseidon loved her far too much to do that._

_Not surprisingly so, when she found out she was pregnant, the entire kingdom burst into joy._

_King Poseidon had her exempted from every and any physical activity, spoiled her rotten, over did her requests, and had her trying to kill him at every step of the way._

_They were very excited for this child, so when, after fifteen grueling hours and an asleep Queen Sally, the baby was born _dead_, Poseidon did something a little… unorthodox._

.

People were gasping, waiting in anticipation as to what might happen.

_._

_Scooping the baby's dead body up, he set out, alone, on horseback._

_He rode through treacherous woods, his trusty horse, Trident, running through the twisty, confusing woods as though one raked eyes over their hands._

_And within minutes they arrived at their destination, the _evil_ Lord Chaos's hideout._

.

People gasped, they'd heard of the old clockwork master. An evil but incredibly skilled clockwork maker, the best of the best. His figurines were said to be life-like, his clocks never in need of repair. He was _perfect_, but a few dozen years ago, the old man had gone into retirement, choosing to vanish off the face of the earth to a secluded spot in the woods.

"I know him," said Annabeth and Leo at the same time, before blush-glaring at each other.

"Elaborate," said Reyna.

"I've read about him," explained Annabeth.

"Dad's mentioned him before," shrugged Leo.

The others nodded.

.

_Banging thrice, King Poseidon received a response._

_The door opened._

_Taking his cue, he stepped in, the deceased prince in tow._

_Upon entering, he was shocked to find little clockwork girls and boys running about, about a hundred cuckoo clocks hanging on the walls, and many other contraptions._

"_King Poseidon?" Poseidon took his attention away from the contraptions and turned to face Lord Chaos._

"_Lord Chaos," Poseidon bowed._

_Chaos looked confused, "Why are you here?"_

_Poseidon uncovered the dead child in his arms, previously hidden by his cloak._

_Chaos staggered back a little, "A-are you sure?" he asked._

_Poseidon nodded, his eyes the shade of a desperate man, "Please. I'll do _anything_, I'll give you _anything_!"_

_Chaos shook his head, "I ask for nothing more than you to rethink your decision."_

"_My mind is made up. I'm _begging_ you."_

_Chaos nodded, "Come with me to my workroom."_

_King Poseidon and Lord Chaos stepped into the old man's clockwork studio._

"_Lay the child on the table," instructed Chaos._

_Poseidon complied._

"_You might want to step out for this part, my liege," said Chaos morosely._

_Poseidon nodded reluctantly and left._

_._

The room was buzzing in anticipation as to what the clockwork maker would do to the child.

Luke found himself listening to the story, maybe he'd be inspired for his work-piece…

.

_Not an hour later, Chaos came out with the boy, his chest rising and falling as his 'heart' beat._

"_Now remember," said Lord Chaos, "this is only a _temporary_ solution, when the child turns ten he'll need a heart given to him by someone else or he'll stop working."_

_King Poseidon nodded, "Thank you, Chaos."_

"_It was a pleasure," replied Chaos._

_._

People gasped as they understood what had happened.

"How is that possible?" asked a young boy from the crowd.

"I don't know," snapped Octavian, "It's a story kid, now hush up."

.

_King Poseidon rode back with his now-alive baby in tow. _

_He managed to reach the palace before Queen Sally woke up._

"_Let me see my son," she demanded one of the midwives._

_The midwife stammered every excuse she could think of till Poseidon walked in, holding the baby._

"_He's with me, my Queen," he replied, laying a kiss on Queen Sally's forehead._

_She took from him the baby and gasped._

_And she had every right to do so considering the child._

_He was a beautiful baby, sea-green eyes, chubby cheeks, a small tuft of black hair. Laying peacefully asleep as his mother held him. what more could a parent ask!?_

_._

A young boy, whom Nico vaguely recognized as Will Solace, turned to his mother, "You love me unconditionally, right?" he asked.

"Of course, baby," she cooed, pinching the six-year-old's cheek.

Nico sighed, feeling a wave of depression hit him. he'd been so young when he'd lost _his_ mother. He'd barely even _known_ her. And he never would…

.

_They named him Perseus, and an elaborate welcoming ceremony was thrown._

_The child was such a delight the whole kingdom loved him._

_He had the looks of a god, the beauty of a dove, the voice of a nightingale, and frankly, no one could get past the unique sea-green eyes which belonged solely to him._

_._

Nico sighed dreamily. If only the boy was real…

.

_He was well loved and taken after, and the whole palace spoke praise of him._

_._

Annabeth sighed. She couldn't tell if the story was true or not. Truth be told, when her father had moved here, out of heartbreak, naturally, he'd cut off all connections with his family, needing some time alone, something that _wouldn't _trigger the memories. She sniggered remembering how bad that turned out once he'd met Malcolm…

.

_But one day, only a month before his tenth birthday, the dear, young Perseus contracted a cold._

_At first, Sally called the royal physician, believing he could cure Percy of his cold, but after two weeks of his health deteriorating, she began to lose hope and _her_ health worsened._

_Poseidon assured her that a week's hunting trip would be _perfect_ for the child's health._

_As of yet, he _still_ hadn't found anyone to give the boy a heart. So, with a heavy heart, he was ready to do it himself._

_._

People grimaced, that would've been better than what had happened.

Nico looked depressed, "Poor guy," he murmured.

He'd _intended_ for no one to hear this, but he hadn't been that fortunate…

"Oh no," said Reyna, stone-faced, "Nico di Angelo, listen up and listen up good. After all these years of trying, I am _not_ letting you fall in love with a book character!"

"Oh what's the harm," waved away Annabeth, "There's nothing wrong with it."

"Except that he may never find love in the real world, depress himself that no other human was good enough, and eventually commit suicide to escape this 'dastardly hideous world'" said Leo.

Everyone gaped at him.

"Don't ask," was all he said.

They nodded.

.

_But at the last moment, his right-hand, Delphin volunteered._

_And so it was that the three set out at night._

_Poor prince Perseus lay wrapped in a bundle of blankets, the little thing shivering as his 'heart' begun to stop beating, the little clockwork mechanisms freezing up._

_._

Nico was brought close to tears. He felt sorry for the poor guy, and in some odd way, he felt a _connection_ to him, like there was a tug in his heart directing him to the boy… awkward.

.

_They set off through the cold, winter snow, hoping to reach the clockwork maker's house by daybreak._

_It was nighttime when things started going wrong…_

_._

Everyone leaned a little in, intent on knowing what happened.

.

_A pack of big, hungry wolves had caught sight of the cart, and had decided that it would be their supper._

_._

Octavian's voice grew more vicious, malicious and sadistic, as though he _enjoyed_ this part.

.

_The wolves gave chase._

"_My liege," said Delphin, "There is but no other way, if I give myself, the wolves will stop chasing. Farewell and keep the young prince safe!"_

_and before Poseidon could protest, Delphin jumped out of the cart, flinging himself at the ravenous wolves._

_._

Some of the audience covered their children's ears for the next part.

.

_they hacked, and clawed at him, turning his body to a bloody pulp, and leaving not more than a disassembled skeleton for any bypasser to find._

_._

They all looked down, giving the man who'd given his life for others a moment of honorary silence.

.

_When Poseidon reached Lord Chaos's house, he realized he had not much of a choice to make. And so, with a heavy heart, he _ordered_ the old clockwork maker to give his heart to his son._

_Chaos made quick work of it, and when the deed was done, he fashioned a clockwork mechanism and laid it in the King's chest, something to help him deliver his sleeping boy home, and off went the party of two to the palace._

_When the guards spotted the rocky, swayey cart, bulleting towards the palace, they immediately opened the doors._

_But the cart didn't stop in the entrance, no. it carried on and crashed into a wall and still the old King whipped the horses._

_A guard ran to the cart and cut the reins, freeing the horses who gasped an whinnied, running off around the area with a wild look in their eyes._

_They lifted old King Poseidon off and sent him to the physician's._

_The old man was surprised to find a cut over the man's chest, even more surprised that he wasn't breathing._

_He opened the man's chest, and to his horror he found… clockwork._

_He informed the palace that the king was dead._

_Poor Queen Sally was affected so badly that the only thing keeping her alive was the knowledge that her son was alright._

_._

The crowd looked down, all feeling a twinge of sorrow for the queen.

Nico stared down into his drink (set in mid 1400's!), sighing. He didn't know how to describe what he was feeling, it felt as though he _knew_ her, as though he could _sympathize _with her, as if she were _his _mother.

Annabeth looked down, she hadn't known much about this. Truth be told, she only found out a few weeks ago about her father's sister, and that was due to tremendous sleuthing. She didn't know much about how she was faring, or how her family was, only that her aunt was Queen Sally.

.

_And so the boy grew; beloved, respected and beautiful._

_Unfortunately, however, when the young prince turned thirteen he grew ill._

_._

Nico knew he should've been ok with that, after all the prince _could_ just go back to get another heart, but he worried nevertheless, something told him it wouldn't be happening like that this time…

.

_Since King Poseidon and Delphin, the only two who knew of the secret, were dead, there was no one who knew what to do with him._

_At last, Queen Sally, bless her, remembered that King Poseidon had taken the child hunting the last time to cure her._

_She requested for someone to take Perseus hunting, alas, no one wanted to for they remembered what happened the _last_ time someone took him hunting, and it really wasn't helping that the old kitchen ladies were spreading rumors of witchcraft._

_._

Nico gritted his teeth, thanks to those stupid palace workers the young boy was going to die. Idiots!

He suddenly gained a look of shock, since when did he care this much for a fictional character? Maybe he should cut back on the mead…

.

_Eventually, she found a young pageboy to do the task, paying him eight silver pieces for the job._

_The pageboy set out with the young prince, and not a moment too soon for a gruesome illness spread through the castle killing the rest._

_He was nearing the forest when he took a detour._

_._

People looked confused. Why on earth would he do that?

.

_He had never intended to take the prince hunting. No, his intent had been to collect the money, abandon the prince, and leave the country to start a new life, invest in a business, get married and have children of his own._

_._

People protested.

Men called the man a coward.

Women called him a scoundrel.

And children… well 'meanie' was pretty much the rudest word in their vocabulary.

.

_And so, stopping the sled at a pub not unlike ours, the man turned to the shivering young boy._

"_Come on," he told him, "Out you get. Go on."_

_._

Everyone was gaping. How could the man be so cruel!?

.

_and so, stumbling, his skin as white as the snow around him, the young prince made his way into the pub-_

_._

Suddenly, the doors to the pub opened, and in staggered a boy.

He was five foot seven with black, curly hair and sea green eyes as though the sea itself lived in them. His skin was a pale, snowy colour.

The room gasped.

"P-prince Perseus?" gasped Leo.

And, with a tinkering voice like a music box in need of repair, came the reply, "Yes?"

That shook everybody out of their stupor.

Octavian dropped his notes, some falling into the fire, "Run!" he cried, "Run! Everybody! If you value your lives!"

Almost the entire room ran out the door, except Luke, the teens and Hades.

Luke, because at the moment he did _not_ value his life, _and_ because he was currently admiring the boy in front of him; the teens, because they were worried for the boy, this whole story they'd all felt some sort of… connection to him; and Hades because he wouldn't leave his children alone, not-not after Bianca and Maria, he sniffed.

Finally, after a moment's silence, and a lot of shivering from Percy, Leo broke the silence, "What're we gonna do with it?"

That snapped them out of it.

Annabeth whacked him upside the head, "Leo! It's a _he_ not an 'it'!"

"Sorry!" He said, before muttering, "Mother-Beth."

Needless to say he received another whack for that one.

Nico was the first to approach him.

He walked over cautiously, as though afraid it was an illusion.

He brought his hand up to rest on the boy, who looked as though he would drop down any second, 's cheek.

The boy all but collapsed, Nico managing to catch him just before he hit the ground.

His eyes reopened as he gasped for breath.

Nico turned to the others, "Octavian! We need to find Octavian! It's his story, he'll know what to do!"

The seven* nodded.

"He's staying at the local Inn," said Annabeth.

The eight ran out, eight because Percy wasn't running, oh no, he was to weak for that, he was being held in Nico's strong arms.

Luke sighed, back to moping about his lack of a clockwork piece, when the door swung open again.

He heard the rustling-squeak of wheels and looked up.

In walked a hooded figure carrying some sort of contraption.

The hooded figure walked over to Luke and sat at the table.

"Hello," he said.

Luke looked up, a scowl plastered on his handsome face, "Who are you? What do you want? Why are you sitting here?"

The man in the hood chuckled, lowering his hood, "I am the answer to your problems, Mr. Castellan, let me introduce myself."

And then he completely pulled off his hood, revealing the face of a handsome, old man, aged roughly fifty with black eyes and white hair.

"I am Chaos, and I've come here to solve your… problem with the statue."

He pulled the cover off the contraption he'd been carrying.

Luke gasped.

There stood a figure, painted in silver. It wore a mask and a cloak and in it's hand was a scythe.

"I call him Kronos, and he's all yours if you like."

Luke was speechless but he managed a nod.

"W-what's the catch?" stammered Luke, believing this too good to be true.

"Nothing at all, just an old man trying to help someone out," smiled Chaos, his grin slightly crocodile, "Now. I'm sensing you have some questions to ask..."

"Prince Perseus," said Luke, "How exactly _did_ you revive him from death."

Chaos let out a laugh that made the hairs on Luke's neck rise.

"I _didn't_," said Chaos, a strange glint in his eyes, "One cannot revive the dead, Mr. Castellan. I simply created for him a new body, copying every one of his details, except the eyes, I just couldn't get those right so I had to remove them from the dead baby. Anyways, he still possesses the child's behavior, it seems, for I converted his soul into his body, but to answer your question, the boy's body is not his. It's clockwork."

Luke wasn't sure he trusted this man much anymore. Converting souls? Removing organs? Not very trustable, no.

"Gods that must have been difficult," sympathized Luke.

Chaos's eyes flashed wide, "No! don-!"

And then, Kronos awakened.

He walked over to Luke, scythe held high.

Chaos whistled a tune, sounding like that of a flute, and Kronos stopped.

"He doesn't like that word. It activates him and sends him into kill mode."

"Which one?" asked Luke.

"Gods," said Chaos, then whistled the tune before Kronos could reactivate.

Luke nodded, warily.

"So," Luke said, "Why-why _didn't _Prince Perseus heal when you gave him his father's heart?"

Chaos let out a sad chuckle, "I warned the old king that he was making a mistake, that he should not do it. 'a heart for him,' he said, 'you told me, he _needs_ a heart, so give him mine' I told him I couldn't and then he ordered me to. But he didn't understand, he gave up the wrong heart."

"What?" asked Luke, "Was it supposed to be like a… pig heart?"

Chaos wore a grim smile, "All you people are the same," he said, shaking his head, "Anyways, I must be off. Farewell."

And with that, Chaos exited the pub.

Sighing at Chaos's riddling message, Luke turned back to his drink.

'I'll put him up in the clock tower later,' thought Luke, 'it won't kill me to do that.'

And so he sat, drowning his mug out.

.

The party of nine had reached the Inn.

"We're here to see Octavian," said Annabeth, "It's urgent."

The man behind the desk nodded, "Across the corridor, third room to the left."

"Thank you," said Annabeth.

They set off in search of the story teller.

When they reached the door, Reyna knocked.

"Who is it?" asked a frantic voice like Octavian's.

"Let me handle this," whispered Leo to the group, "Octavian, honey, it's your adoring fans! We've come to… spend the night!" he said in a high-pitched girl's voice, saying the last last part naughtily.

Frank nearly died laughing and had to cover his mouth to stop it coming out. The girl's all glared at Leo venomously. Jason gaped. And Nico was too busy worrying about the boy in his arms to give it a second thought.

"Oh," said Octavian, "er, come in, I guess. Except for you, Leo, your woman voice is terrible."

Leo pouted while Frank, Jason, Reyna, Annabeth and Hazel nearly collapsed to the floor laughing. Again, Nico was too concerned about the boy in his arms to really care.

They entered the room.

Octavian took them in. He noticed the boy Nico was carrying, as he packed away all his things in a hurry.

"Where are you going?" asked Annabeth.

"I don't know," said Octavian, "Belgium? France? Switzerland? The further the better."

"But you can't," she protested, "You have to help us, you have to help him!"

"I can't," he shoved a coat in his bag.

Nico, for the first time, stopped looking at the boy he held, "Why not?"

"Because I don't know how," said Octavian, frantically shoving pages into his travel set.

"What do you mean?" demanded Nico, "You created him-them-this! It's your story!"

"No it's not!" snapped Octavian, as he snapped the lid of his suitcase shut.

And for the first time that night, the teens drunk in the older man.

He looked feral, his eyes crazy. His hair wild and, frankly, he looked like he'd had _way_ too much coffee.

"W-what do you mean?" asked Reyna.

Octavian sighed.

"Look," he said, "I didn't come up with this story, alright? It came to _me_. A few nights ago I had it as a dream, but I woke up before it finished. I couldn't even come up with an ending! I was hoping to tonight, but then he walked in and now I have to leave the country because if anyone ever finds out-" he said, frantically and fast.

"Woah, calm down there, Octavian, here," said Annabeth, reaching for a glass of water.

He shook his head, batting away the offered drink, "I'm sorry, but I really must get going."

"Wait!" called Nico, as Octavian was exiting the door, "What do we do with him!?"

"You'll figure something out!" came Octavian's fading reply.

Nico sighed in frustration. The boy in his arms was slowly dying, and, although it wounded Nico's ego greatly, getting heavier.

"I think we should go back to the Inn," said Annabeth, "Luke's still there and maybe he'll know what to do about him."

Reyna grit her teeth. She was not, had not, and would never be jealous of the son of Hermes… on anything that didn't concern her longtime crush, Annabeth.

Nico groaned. Seriously, his arms were getting tired.

Jason must've noticed this because he said, "Hey, if you're tired, I could hold him."

Nico _would'_ve said yes, but a strange part of him, which was seeming to win over his rational thinking, told him that he rather enjoyed having the beautiful young boy in his arms, and that he wasn't going to be letting anyone carry him.

"Nah," he said, "It's okay. This kid weighs less than a sack of potatoes."

And the scary thing was that Nico wasn't really exaggerating, the boy in his arms was _extremely_ light, a bit worryingly so. He was starting to wonder if he'd ever see those glorious sea-green globes that were the boys eyes when, as if on cue, the boy opened his eyes.

"Urgh," he groaned, surveying the area, "Where _am_ I?" he asked, before looking up at the handsome stranger holding him, "And who are you?" was his last question.

Leo chuckled, "You know, kid, for someone who's really ill and just woke up, you sure can ask a lot of questions."

"Valdez," said Frank, "What did Octavian say about you entering the room?"

"Well Octavian's not here now so nyah!" Leo stuck his tongue out at him.

Frank rolled his eyes, "Immature," he muttered.

"Boys!" said Hazel, "Be nice! This poor child has just woken up and you're _already_ giving him a bad impression."

Percy smiled at her, "Thank you, kind lady."

"Well, Perseus old bean," said Leo, as though he was an elderly man talking to another, "To answer your questions, you're in an inn, and the handsome, dashing, and incredibly single chap holding you, like the bride you shall soon be, is none other than our resident town spook, Nico."

Nico and Percy both blushed hard and glared at Leo, but it showed more on Percy's face because of the colour of his skin, which was now turning silvery.

Leo bumped his shoulder against Nico's arm, whispering in his ear, "You're welcome."

Percy groaned, "And please don't call me Perseus, I hate it. My name is _Percy_," he said, in his weak, rusty-bell voice, "Also, please let me down," he asked Nico.

Blushing, Nico put the boy, who he really had no valid reason for holding so long, down, thanking that no questions were asked.

Percy nearly fell once he touched the ground, his knees weak with exhaustion. Luckily, Nico was there to catch him.

"Thank you," said Percy, steadying himself.

Nico blushed a bit, "No problem," he said, "If your knees are feeling weak, then you could lean on me."

Percy smiled up at him, grateful, "Thank you, kind sir."

"Ummm…" Nico struggled for words, "You're… welcome?"

Jason bit back a snigger, Nico helping him by shooting him a terrifying glare that made him hide behind Piper.

"Come on," said Annabeth, "The sooner we get him there the sooner we can come up with a cure."

"Hang on," said Percy, "I still don't know who you are. Are you some sort of kidnappers?"

Leo chuckled, "Yes. We, eight kids, have decided to kidnap a kid. Because as kids, we enjoy kidnapping."

Everyone just blinked at him, "Heh?" the all asked.

He pouted, "You know, not _all_ of my jokes _have_ to be funny. I'm only human, geez!"

Now people looked even more confused.

Leo sighed.

"Look, kid," he said, "How bout I introduce you. Ok, so, you already know who your prince charming is," again the two blushed, "and we are his friends. The pretty, blonde girl over there is Jason," Jason glared heatedly at Leo, "And that's the girl he's hopelessly and not so discretely pining over, which is ironic because she's pining over him too, Piper," Jason and Piper both glared heatedly at Leo, their cheeks a crimson red, "The blonde over there with that cold, calculating look in her eye, like she really wants to hurt me, is Annabeth, but don't worry, she wants to hurt everybody, and soon she'll be chasing you with a stick too! And-"

"Wait," said Percy, "Annabeth, as in, Annabeth Jackson? Daughter of Frederick Jackson?"

She smiled and nodded, "Actually, he goes by Frederick Chase now, so it's now also Annabeth Chase."

He nodded, "Mother talked a lot about you. and your father, she really misses him."

She nodded grimly, "Yeah, it seems my mother just _loved_ messing up happy families," she said, recalling a conversation with her brother, Malcolm.

Percy smiled sadly at her, "So I guess that makes you my cousin, huh?"

She nodded, "Yeah, your cousin who needs to get you to the clockwork maker's apprentice quick."

Percy snorted, "What good'll that do?"

Annabeth looked at him, pity splayed across her features, "You honestly don't know, do you?"

He shook his head, "I'm sorry."

She frowned a bit, "It's alright. Now come on," she said, taking in his skin colour, which was getting paler by the minute, "let's go."

"Wait!" said Leo, "Before we leave, that raven haired girl who is _totally_ checking me out, is Reyna."

Reyna sent Leo such a vicious glare that if he hadn't been used to them by now, he could have died.

The group started their trek towards Elysium Inn/Pub and arrived in just a few short minutes, soon enough to notice a dark, cloaked figure exiting the pub.

They looked at him warily, but he only turned to look at them once, sending Percy a look which confused him, and made Nico's grip around his waist, where he'd been supporting him, tighten.

They walked into the inn/pub and found Luke… and Kronos.

"Luke!" cried Annabeth, running up to the blonde man.

"Annie!" he said, spreading his arms to hug her.

Reyna glared heatedly at the exchange. She was _not_ jealous, she was just mad at the two for wasting time while there was a boy whose life was at stake, right?

"Lucan," greeted Nico.

"Nicolas," greeted Luke.

Nico glared, "How many times do I have to tell you people, my name is Nico! Derived off the _Latin_ word, Nico, related to the _root_ word, Nico, and meaning, _Nico!"_

Percy, despite his ill-ridden state, managed a slight, wheezy chuckle, the gears and cogs in his neck starting to rust up, "Touchy much?"

Luke gestured with his arms at the boy, "That's what I said!"

"Now," began Luke, "I'm assuming there's something you want me to do, and I have a feeling that it has something to do with the _very_ pretty boy hanging off the wrong man's shoulder."

Nico glared at the older man, and slightly tightened his grip around Percy's waist.

"Actually," said Frank, "It _does_ have something to do with Perseus- er, _Percy_," he corrected under Percy's mild glare, "We were wondering, since you're soon going to be taking over as clockwork master, and are therefore highly skilled at, er, clockworkery ? you'd-"

"You want me to fix young Perseus," said Luke, matter-of-factly.

Annabeth nodded, "We figured you'd be able to help, since you're so good with machinery and whatnot."

Luke bit his lip, "I'm afraid I can't," at the cries of protest he held up his hands, "Look. I _want_ to help, but I _can't_. I don't have the skill, there isn't much time, and it's not just his heart I'll need to repair. Maybe you should just give him some fish-oil, that's _great_ for machinery, but there's really not much I can do. Okay, I'm _sorry_," he said, meeting the young prince's eyes.

Percy opened his mouth to say that it was okay, but all that came out was was the low moan of metal on metal.

Luke winced at the sound.

"Are you alright?" asked Nico, concerned.

Percy used the hand that wasn't on Nico's shoulder to hold his throat. He tried to make another sound, but all that came out was a jingling , flute-like noise, that sounded to Luke suspiciously like the deactivation song for Kronos.

"He can't talk," said Annabeth, as it hit her.

"The cogs in his throat must be clogged," analyzed Luke.

The others looked confused, "What are you talking about?" asked Leo, "Lord Chaos only replaced his heart, not his throat," he said.

Luke shook his head, "No. You can not bring the dead back to life. Lord Chaos merely recreated the body, took the eyes of the original out and placed it in the automaton baby, since eyes carry the soul and those eyes were impossible to recreate, and buried the real baby," he explained.

Percy _may_ have been shocked, or thought Luke was lying, but he was so weak by this point, ready to collapse, that his hearing hadn't been working properly and he started to fold down on the table, arms first to support him but they were too wobbly.

Nico caught him around the waist and placed him in a booth.

"How would you know that?" asked Hazel.

"He was just here, not ten minutes ago," said Luke, pointing out the door.

"Wait," said Piper, "You mean the man in the cloak?" she asked before muttering, "Which is _so_ three years ago?"

He nodded, "Yeah, why?"

"What was he doing here?" asked Jason.

Luke gulped, before using his excellent lying methods to come up with an excuse, "I'm not sure. I think he wanted a drink. But with Sir Hades upstairs trying to relieve himself of his headache with two large blocks of ice, there was no one here to give it to him."

"Come on," said Annabeth, "Me, Hazel and Reyna'll go try and find him, Jason and Frank, go find some fish oil, and you three-er, four," she said, turning to the remaining people, remembering to include Luke, "Make sure he doesn't freeze up, take care of him, preserve his body."

Leo snorted, "Oh, Nico's gonna be doing just that," before saying in a whispered voice, hoping not to get heard, "And much, much more," he sniggered.

The reactions were… amusing.

Nico blushed and glared heatedly at Leo.

Piper, Annabeth and Reyna opened and closed their mouths.

Frank, the innocent kid he was, stuck his hands in his ears and 'la la la-ed'

Luke, taking the initiative, stuck his fingers in Hazel's ears, and _also_ 'la la la-ed'.

Jason gave Nico a thumbs up and a knowing look, at which Nico glared again at.

"Don't worry, Annabeth," said Luke, fingers still in Hazel's ears, "I'll make sure _nothing_ like that happens."

She nodded slightly, now blushing a bit, "Thank you, Luke."

"No problem," he said.

The groups set off to do their individual tasks.

"Well," said Piper, "He looks fine."

Leo elbowed her, "Piper. Don't say that in front of Nico."

"What?" she looked confused, before getting the joke, "_Oh._ Pfft haha!"

Nico glared, "Why do you keep making those jokes, Valdez?"

Leo snorted, "Isn't it obvious? It's because you like him. like, _like_-like him."

"Eeep!" Piper fangirled, "I can see it now. You two, older, married, little kids running around," a misty look crossed her eyes, "It's _perfect_."

Nico blushed.

Leo rolled his eyes, "Yup," he said, "You're _definitely_ Lady Aphrodite's daughter. You've even got the love-life meddling genes down to the core."

Piper glared at him before chasing him with a chair held high.

Luke rolled his eyes. Oh well, since there was nothing better to do, he may as well finish his drink- er, _drinks_, seeing as he'd expected to be a lot more depressed that evening, and had bought half a barrel's worth of drinks.

Nico took in the state of Percy, feeling depressed at the thought of not being able to do anything.

"Hey, Luke," said Nico, a thought as to what he could do forming in his head, "Could you keep an eye on Percy? I just want to get some blankets from upstairs and check up on dad, and I don't really trust those two," he said, looking warily as Piper chased and followed Leo out of the pub.

"Hmmm? Yeah, *hiccup* sure," said the half-drunk man.

"Thanks," said Nico, half sure he was going to regret this, before running up the stairs.

By the time he'd reached the top, a now very drunk Luke decided it was time to put Kronos in the clock tower.

But then, as he was getting up, a small, black-and-white figure moved, looking to his drunken mind rather like a cat made of bones. Small Bob, Nico's cat.

"Aaargh!" Luke yelled, effectively waking up Percy, "Gods, you stupid cat!" and waking up Kronos too.

"No, no, no," said Luke, hands raised as Kronos began to slowly walk towards him, scythe raised. "Gargh, what was that stupid melody again."

Percy tried to call out to him, probably a 'duck!' seeing as Kronos was about to swing his scythe, but instead, all that came out was the flute-like noise.

Kronos's body froze, and it may've just been Luke's drunk-hazed imagination, but he could've sworn that Kronos sent a scowl-glare at Percy, as though, for some reason, he didn't like him.

Well that was it. Luke had been planning to just add extra securance to the automaton's feet, but clearly getting him there alone would be a death wish.

Through his alcohol clouded mind, Luke noticed Percy.

Percy, who would be not more than a piece of metal come morning rise.

Percy, who would die anyways.

Percy, who was significantly the most beautiful being Luke had laid eyes on.

And Percy, whose exquisite crafting would _definitely_ make him a remembered clockwork master.

Then he could just scrap Kronos and he'd be set.

So, very drunkenly mind you, he walked towards the table where the young prince was struggling to stay awake, and scooped him up. he was incredibly light but he was starting to get heavier by the minute, and looking down, Luke noted that it was because his skin was turning into metal. _Perfect_.

He hurried up to the clockwork tower and fastened the young prince, who was trying quite hard for someone so weak at the moment, to get free.

"There, gorgeous," he said, drunkly, placing a sloppy kiss to the boy's lips, which earned him a weak shove, "mmmm, feisty," he murmured, before going back to kiss the pretty little 'thing's' mouth, his hands going down…

Percy bit harshly on his lip.

Luke withdrew and slapped Percy's cheek hard, drawing a bit of his own blood at the touch of the cold, rigid metal.

"You're lucky you're beautiful," said Luke, before turning and leaving.

Percy bit back angry tears. That bastard. That blonde, drunk, good looking, bastard. Good riddance! He only wished that that handsome dark-haired man, Nico was there. The handsome, handsome man with those incredible, sexy, dark-brown eyes.

He sighed as he felt a pang where his heart would've been if he'd had one.

There was only one thing he could do, he figured to pass the time, as weak, and fevered, and near-dead as he was, was to sing.

And so, he opened his mouth, and let loose the whirring of clockwork in him to form a beautiful song.

.

Nico ran down the stairs holding blankets, a hot water bottle, and a bowl of soup, none of which, miraculously, had spilled.

He'd checked up on his father, who was now asleep, and found Small Bob and tucked him up in a blanket by his bed.

So you can imagine his slight horror, when he got down the stairs and found Luke, screwdriver in hand, approaching Kronos, and no Percy in sight.

"Where's Percy!?" he demanded, the loudness of his voice making Luke jump and the screwdriver fly out of his hand.

"Weeellllllll..." Luke slurred, "I put the little bastard *hiccup* in his place's what I gone done did."

Nico growled and leapt at Luke, plopping everything on the table nearby to beat the blonde boy senseless.

Luke flipped them so he was on top.

"_Gods_, di Angelo," he slurred, "You're so weak, how were you even _thinking_ that you'd stand a chance with him," he chuckled, "You know what I tasted when I was kissing him? Salt," he groaned, "Fresh, sea salt. And the way his skin felt under my fingertips…" he trailed off.

Nico, seeing red, flipped them around and landed punch after punch down on the man's face.

Neither of the two saw the iron-man, _Kronos_, walking towards them, scythe held high, for their fight was that consuming.

Finally, Nico stopped his punches as he felt a presence behind him. he turned around and gasped as he was met with the sight of Kronos, scythe held high, ready to kill.

He tumble-rolled out of the way and looked back as he heard a pained cry.

What he saw made the hairs on his neck raise. Kronos, frozen, with his scythe in Luke's neck.

'Oh well,' he thought, 'I've got nothing to lose.'

He ran to Luke and grabbed the set of keys from his cloak before running up to the clock tower.

He unlocked the door.

Groaning in frustration as to how many figures there were, he realized he'd be lucky if he found the prince by the morning.

Then, he heard a noise. Like a pretty little song made from clinkering glass, which was a weird description, but an accurate one.

Following the sound, he soon found the younger boy, his feet shackled to the ground, his arms attached to heavy wiring and his skin a pale grey, like aluminum.

"Percy," breathed Nico sadly, running a palm down the boys cheek, which he noted had a bit of rusty metal and blood.

He opened his eyes and looked at Nico. He opened his mouth but not even the whir of clockwork came out, just silence.

Tears found their way into Nico's eyes, "This is the end, isn't it?"

Percy gave a small, sad nod.

Nico sniffed, wrapping his arms around the younger boy.

Percy buried his head in the crook of Nico's neck.

"No," Nico withdrew, "No, I wont let it be," he cried, "We-we could get Chaos to make you a new body, a-and then you could last longer," but even as Nico said it, he felt the idea wrong.

Something told him that maybe, just maybe it was Percy's time to leave. He told it to shut up.

Percy shook his head, and even though he couldn't speak, he still managed to mouth the words, 'Nico,' and giving him a sad smile.

Nico bit back the tears he knew he would shed.

"A-at least let me stay with you," said Nico, "Just the night. If I'm going to lose you in the morning-" his voice cracked.

Percy gave him a sympathetic look and nodded.

Nico sighed.

He brushed his hand over Percy's forehead as he took in his shivering frame.

"You're cold, aren't you?" noted Nico, "Here, take this," he took off his cloak and laid it over the small boy.

'Thank you,' mouthed Percy.

"You're welcome," said Nico.

They spent most of the night like that. And when Percy fell asleep, Nico kissed his cheek.

"I'll miss you,' he murmured to the younger boy.

.

Annabeth, Hazel and Reyna neared the pub with sunken spirits. They hadn't managed to find Chaos at all. Annabeth started weeping half the trip back, Reyna putting a consoling arm around her and comforting her.

Right before they entered, they were met with the sight of Piper and Leo, the latter having a few chips of wood on his shoulder and a bit of sawdust in his hair whilst the former was sopping wet.

"Where were you two? I thought you were supposed to be watching Percy," inquired Hazel.

"He pissed me off." "She started it." were the simultaneous responses she received.

She sighed, "Never mind."

"So," said Piper, "Guessing by your group's current state, I'm guessing you couldn't find him."

"No," sighed Hazel, "Bummer too, I'm pretty sure I've _never_ seen Nico look at someone that way, I don't want to imagine what he's going through."

Piper nodded sympathetically.

"Hey, guys!" came a loud, yet raspy and tired voice.

They turned to see Jason and Frank walking up the small hill to the pub, held between them a large barrel.

Annabeth sighed at them.

"Well," she said, "At least _one_ group didn't fail."

"Poor Percy," said Hazel, "We couldn't find Chaos," she looked at the rising sun, "He probably only has a few minutes left."

The others all looked a bit sad, that boy had really grown on them the few hours they'd known him.

"Well," said Leo at last, "The least we can do is say goodbye."

The seven all nodded and walked in, expecting to find a despaired Nico and a dying Percy. What they _didn't _expect was Luke's clockwork piece, or at least they'd _assumed _it was his clockwork piece, none of them having asked due to the previous crisis, with a scythe-like thing in it's hand, the point of which was dug into the neck of, Annabeth let out a warbled cry, Luke.

She approached him and dropped to her knees, her body heaving wracked sobs.

Reyna put her hands on her shoulders.

"Annabeth," she murmured, "Percy's not here."

Hazel, who'd just entered with Frank after a conversation outside, screamed as her eyes laid down on the body.

Thudding from the floorboards, groaning, and down came Hades, tall and fearful as ever… in his nightgown.

"I heard a scream, are you alright?" he asked.

Despite popular belief, Hades wasn't a big, scary man who locked all his children and guests in the basement and fed them nothing but rats. He was actually rather nice, cold and upfront at times, but nice, and he had a really soft spot for kids, particularly his own.

"Yeah," called Frank, as Hazel's hands were covering her mouth while she stood there frozen in shock, "She's alright," he answered for her, "But he," he pointed to Luke's corpse, "Isn't."

Hade's nearly fainted, "Oh god," he said, the lack of an 's' saving him, "We need to tell everybody. They'll all be expecting him. where's Nico?"

They all shrugged.

Leo shrugged, "Honestly, I don't think we're the right people to ask anything to at the moment, we can't even keep track of our own team and we're an emotional mess," he gestured to the people who proved his point.

Hades sighed, this would be one _long_ morning,

.

The townspeople were gathered by the clockwork tower awaiting the eleventh bell to ring.

They knew about Luke's death. Chiron was probably the worst affected, he'd known Luke since the boy was five and was incredibly fond of him, and not just that, no, there was also the fact that Chiron was growing old, now in his late thirties, and would now need to take on a new apprentice.

Still, they gathered, ready to admire the aspiring new clockwork master's last piece, a tribute, a memory of him to last a hundred years.

In the crowd, Hades was searching, along with Hazel, for his son to no avail.

At last, eleven o'clock hit and the piece that was 'Luke's' appeared.

They all gasped, for there was not clockwork, but rather two boys. A pale one whom they recognized as Nico, and another who was pale with a slight tan, whom they did not know at all.

"That's my son!" called Hades.

"Nico!" yelled Hazel.

Annabeth, who was wrapped in Reyna's consoling arms, looked up. her face broke into an amazed gape, before breaking out, possibly, into the world's happiest smile, tears of happiness lining her eyes,

"Percy!" she yelled.

The two boys woke up. soon, a party of a dozen men came to free them.

And Chaos watched all of this with a smile on his hooded face, before disappearing off, back into the woods, happy that his creation had had a happy ending.

.

Percy, who didn't seem to remember _anything_ was 'adopted' by Annabeth's family, her father declaring he'd been separated from his sister's life too long.

Nico, who already had a place to live and all his memory, made it a point to visit Percy as much as often.

Reyna got the nerve to ask Annabeth out a month later due to much pushing and help from Percy.

Frank _finally_ worked up the nerve to ask Hazel out thanks to the guys helping him out and the girls helping _her_ out.

Jason asked Piper out on his _own_ the next day.

And as for Leo, a pretty girl from another town moved to theirs and he and her hit it off well.

And so they lived, happily, with no more strange occurrences, well, at least not _too_ strange…

.

Epilogue

"Mo-_om_! They're doing it, _again!" _called the pissed-off voice of a young, eight year old boy.

"Girls!" called Percy up the stairs, "Stop dressing your brothers up in frocks!"

"But mo-_om,_" whined the voice of a young, ten year old girl, "They look so _cute_."

"Besides," chimed in her twin, "All we want to do is paint them. Then they can change out, swearsies!"

"Hmmm…" Percy contemplated, "Alright," he shrugged, "I guess that's fair."

At that moment Nico walked in.

"Hey, honey," he said, playfully, dodging a well-aimed frying pan for the 'derogatory' term.

Again, the young boy's voice called, "But mom, the dresses are pink!"

Nico gasped, fake-horrified.

"Amarilla and Alethia di Angelo!" he called up the stairs, "Putting your brothers in pink dresses!?" he called, mock-scandalized, "I thought I'd taught you better! Jack's colour is _blue_! And Sebastian's colour is _black!_ Now correct your mistake, _immediately!_"

The girls giggled from up the stairs and responded simultaneously, "Yes daddy."

From the stairs came a thump-thumping and down ran a little four year old.

"Mama!" he made grabby motions for Percy.

"Awww, my little baby boy," Percy coddled.

Nico made a fake-defeated sigh, "Well," he said, "You've won this round, Seb, but next time he's mine."

Down the stairs walked a pissed-off eight year old boy, sporting a half-on blue dress, flats, jewelry and lipstick smeared smudgily under and above his lips, very little on said lips.

Nico bit back a laugh at the sight of his oldest son, the one who looked so much like his husband.

"Oh look," he couldn't stop the laugh from escaping his mouth, "If it isn't my third-born daughter, what can I do for you, Jacky?"

"Not. Funny," ground out said boy.

Percy frowned bit, holding his youngest, "Hey, weren't you supposed to be having a play-date with Alinah and Acquilla?"

Jack snorted, "Do you _really_ think those two pansies could get me into a dress on their own? Now, if you excuse me, I must save them from the suit they're stuffing Acquilla into."

And with that, he took his little brother out of Percy's arms and made a u-turn up the stairs.

"I still don't like him," Nico glared up at the floorboards.

Percy rolled his eyes, "Oh come _on_, Acquilla's only eight, and besides, it's _cute_."

"I still don't like him."

Percy rolled his eyes again, "_Nico."_

"Fine," Nico sighed.

"Good," replied Percy, going on his tip-toes to kiss his husband.

They'd gotten married eleven years ago. Had their first kids together _ten_ years ago- turns out the same spark that turned Percy human enabled him to have kids- and were _very_ happy.

"Come on," said Nico, "Let's go out for walk."

Percy smiled, "let's," and they walked out of the Inn/pub.

Unbeknownst to them, Chaos stood, watching from the shadows, and turned to the sky.

"Well," he said to it, "Hades and Poseidon, looks like your boys are finally happy," he looked sadly at the happy couple walking through the woods, "Gods know they deserve it."

And then, he disappeared to _Gods_ know where…

.

**xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo**

**Done! that took- surprisingly short considering I started this on Thursday Dec 4… I know I switched Percy and Chaos's arrival times around, but the reason to that was that I wanted them all out of the pub by the time Chaos arrived and I figured that rather than explaining why the eight of them decided to reenter, I'd just make it so Percy came first.**

***Pffft Haha! I cracked up way to hard when I typed that part. 'the seven' lol!**

**I feel really bad for making Luke an antagonist, **_**but**_**…**

**-httyd4eva**

**peace out yo;P**


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